Leverage Points for Addressing Digital Inequality: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior Perspective

Digital inequality, or the disparity in the access and use of information and communication technologies (ICT), is one of the most critical issues in the knowledge economy. This inequality prevents under-privileged people from exploring digital opportunities to enhance their life quality. Governments, business, and the public have devoted tremendous resources to address this issue, but the results are inconclusive. Theoretical understanding, complemented with theory-based empirical assessment of the phenomenon, is essential to inform effective policy-making and interventions. This dissertation explored the key factors that lead to the inequality in the access and use of ICT, particularly the high-speed Internet, between the privileged and under-privileged. I applied a belief-based perspective to understand how distinctive beliefs concerning ICT acceptance differentially influence under-privileged and privileged people¡¦s innovation decision and behavior at different stages of the implementation process. A theoretical model that drew upon the Theory of Planned Behavior, Motivation Theory, Social Learning Theory, Diffusion of Innovation, and Trust was developed to explain how cognitive, social, behavioral, and institutional factors inform digital inequality as a whole. The conceptual model and forwarded hypotheses in the dissertation were empirically tested using data collected from a large-scale field survey. The survey investigated the adoption and usage behavior of residents in the city of LaGrange, Georgia where the city government, aiming to address digital inequality, provided high-speed Internet connection and devices to residents at no cost. A complementary case study was subsequently conducted to examine a multi-stage process model in which various barriers and facilitators may prevent or promote the progress of individuals¡¦ ICT innovation. The results of this research reveal valuable insights into the differential patterns of ICT access and usage, and the key factors that cause them, for under-privileged and privileged people. The findings, in turn, suggest a segmentation and stepwise technology implementation strategy for people with different backgrounds and at different stages of their innovation processes. This dissertation makes several notable contributions for both researchers and practitioners. First, the dissertation contributes a holistic and theoretically grounded perspective that extends beyond the technology-centered view in most digital inequality studies. It also highlights the multifaceted nature of the phenomenon. As such, this research meets the challenge set forward by notable researchers to develop theoretical models capable of revealing the complexity embedded in this issue. Second, the dissertation presents a unifying theory reflected upon adoption and diffusion of innovation. Testing theories in the context of digital inequality extends and complements our existing knowledge about these related fields. Most importantly, the empirical findings derived from the rich data set identity powerful leverage points for stimulating the adoption and use of ICT among the under-privileged. With such insights, practitioners, particularly policy-makers and service providers, can formulate effective interventions to address the problem of digital inequality

UNDERSTANDING POST-ADOPTIVE USAGE BEHAVIORS: A Two-Dimensional View

Recent information systems (IS) publications reveal an emerging interest in studying post-adoptive system use behaviors. Compared to the well-established research stream of IS adoption and initial usage, understanding of IS use behaviors after initial implementation stage is still at its early stage. To further develop knowledge about this phenomenon, this study reviews the IS implementation stage model and a variety of post-adoptive usage concepts in extant literature. These usage concepts are classified into three types and are mapped against their corresponding implementation stages. A two dimensional view of these use concepts is then proposed as an alternative perspective to understand these post-adoptive behaviors. Implications are also discussed at the end of this paper

An Investigation of Intention to Explore Business Intelligence Systems: A Psychological Engagement Perspective

Prior research has generally found that firm-specific information technology (IT) knowledge, behavioral, normative and control beliefs, and team empowerment contributed to intention to explore IT. However, little attention is directed towards how the user experience, specifically user engagement, influences users’ intention to explore IT, such as business information systems (BIS). Toward this end, this paper explores how user engagement affects users’ intention to explore BIS and how user engagement is promoted by the cognitive fit between BIS interface and tasks and the regulatory compatibility between BIS interface and personal characteristics, such as style of information processing. We conducted a lab experiment to empirically test the hypotheses. This study may contribute to the extant information systems (IS) literature by uncovering the impacts of engagement experience on intention to explore and responding to the call for investigation of the BIS context where rich visualizations of the systems influence users’ interactive experience

Understanding Cross National Difference in Knowledge Seeking Behavior Model: A Survival Perspective

Electronic Knowledge Repository (EKR) is one of the most commonly deployed knowledge management technologies, yet its success is hindered by employees’ underutilization and further complicated when implemented in the multinational context. To address these challenges, we propose a research model by conceptualizing employees’ knowledge seeking via EKR as a survival-centric behavior, identifying the technology acceptance model as the individual-level explanation for EKR use, and drawing on the thermal demands-resources theory for explaining cross national behavioral differences. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we tested the model with data from 1352 randomly sampled knowledge workers across 30 nations. The results reveal interesting cross national behavioral patterns. Specifically, thermal climates and national wealth at the macro-level interactively moderate individual-level relationships between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness and between perceived usefulness and behavioral intention

The Credibility Crisis in IS: A Global Stakeholder Perspective

The field of information systems (IS) faces a credibility crisis, which threatens its stature as a highly-respected academic discipline (Firth, King, Koch, Looney, Pavlou, and Trauth, 2011; Winter and Butler, 2011; among others). This article summarizes a panel discussion at the ICIS 2011 Conference, where a group of distinguished IS professors offered their unique perspectives on the challenges, origins, and solutions related to the global credibility crisis in IS. Using stakeholder theory as an organizing framework, the panel session identifies the key stakeholders influencing the credibility of the IS discipline, as well as the challenges and opportunities facing IS programs worldwide